A CITYPERC talk on "RMD Internationalization: A Conflict of Statecraft"

CITYPERC, Department of International Politics, is pleased to host a talk by B. Jerry Cohen from the University of California on “RMB Internationalization: A Conflict of Statecrafts”.

Abstract

For nearly a century, the US dollar has reigned supreme as international money. Today, however, the greenback is under attack as never before by the Chinese yuan, also known as the renminbi (RMB), the “people’s currency.” In effect, two currency statecrafts have come into conflict. China, the rising power, is making every effort to erode the dollar’s dominance; Washington, the incumbent, must in turn decide what it is prepared to do, if anything, to counter the RMB’s rise. Who is winning? Success in a conflict of statecrafts can be measured in two ways – in terms of policy measures effectively implemented on the supply side of the market or in terms of substantive impacts on behavior on the demand side. By the first metric China’s record of accomplishment to date has been impressive -- but not by the second. Yet over the long haul the yuan may still become a serious rival. Ironically, if that outcome comes to pass, it will be due less to the effectiveness of Beijing’s statecraft than to the failure of Washington’s.

About the speaker

Benjamin Jerry Cohen is a Louis G. Lancaster Professor of International Political Economy at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

He has written extensively on issues of international monetary and financial relations ranging from exchange rates and monetary integration to financial markets and international debt. His most recent book, Currency Power: Understanding Monetary Rivalry, was published in 2015 by Princeton University Press.

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